Hylephila phyleus phyleus

Fiery Skipper

The fiery skipper is a suburban skipper if there ever was one, using Bermuda lawn grass as its main larval food plant and taking nectar at lantana and other common garden flowers. In the summer in the suburbs near LAX, I remember these swarming bushes when I was a kid. It is especially common later in the year, from the heat of late summer into the fall. As common as it may be, it isn't easy to find caterpillars, which seem to disappear in grass leaves sewn together as shelters low to the ground. Following an ovipositing female - they are larger and darker than males - is an easy way to see the eggs (shown below). Then they do their disappearing act.